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The utilization of immune checkpoint inhibitors in oncological treatment has increased in recent years. The therapeutic strategy of targeting the programmed death-1 (PD-1)/programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) pathway has altered the management of advanced non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC). Tislelizumab, a novel anti-PD-1 monoclonal antibody developed in China, has demonstrated efficacy in treating advanced NSCLC. However, its potential role as a neoadjuvant therapy for locally advanced NSCLC has not been definitively established. Current guidelines do not specify which patient populations may gain the most benefit from neoadjuvant immunotherapy coupled with chemotherapy, nor do they indicate the optimal timing, dose or duration of adjuvant maintenance therapy post-NSCLC surgery. Similarly, data concerning the safety and practicability of surgical resection following neoadjuvant tislelizumab treatment for NSCLC remain limited. The present study describes the case of a patient diagnosed with stage IIIB NSCLC, which was initially deemed unresectable. A preoperative biopsy of the tumor mass revealed squamous cell carcinoma and a negative PD-L1 gene test. Notably, after two cycles of neoadjuvant tislelizumab treatment coupled with chemotherapy, the tumor exhibited marked shrinkage. This permitted the patient to undergo thoracoscopic radical lung cancer resection, which resulted in a pathological complete response. Postoperative pathology identified a large infiltration of lymphoplasmacytic cells and foamy histiocytes. The patient experienced grade 2 myelosuppression, a condition that was successfully addressed with the administration of recombinant human granulocyte colony-stimulating factor. The present case indicates the safety and feasibility of neoadjuvant immunotherapy integrated with chemotherapy for patients with locally advanced, PD-L1-negative NSCLC prior to surgical intervention. Moreover, the case suggests the potential of this therapeutic combination to alter the tumor microenvironment. However, the generalization of these findings necessitates further validation through randomized multicenter trials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pulmonary sarcomatoid carcinoma (PSC) is a rare form of poorly differentiated non-small-cell lung cancer that is prone to distant metastases. PSC is therapeutically challenging, with low sensitivity to conventional radiotherapy and a poor overall prognosis. The present study reported on the case of a 29-year-old male non-smoker diagnosed with both PSC and lung adenocarcinoma; the cancer had a complex etiology and rapidly metastasized after surgery. The patient presented with an EML4-ALK gene fusion in both tumors with high programmed death ligand-1 (PD-L1) expression. After initial treatment failure, Alectinib, Anlotinib and Tirelizumab were combined, which rapidly resolved the patient's symptoms and led to partial remission of disease at 6 weeks and effective control of the disease 7 months into the treatment. This case exemplifies the efficacy of combining targeted chemotherapy with immunotherapy for patients with PSC. Furthermore, this outcome suggests the usefulness of genetic testing and monitoring PD-L1 expression to identify patients with PSC who may be candidates likely to respond to this combined therapeutic regimen. The present study provides evidence of the success of a novel therapeutic strategy for patients with PSC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) has an increasing incidence worldwide, and the global 5-year survival rate ranges from 5–30%. In China, HCC seriously threatens the nation's health; the incidence of HCC ranks fourth among all theriomas, and the mortality rate is the third highest worldwide. The main therapies for HCC are surgical treatment or liver transplantation; however, most patients with HCC will experience postoperative recurrence or metastasis, eventually resulting in mortality. As for advanced or unresectable HCC, the current appropriate treatment strategy is transarterial chemoembolization; however, limited therapeutic effect and natural or acquired drug resistance affect the efficacy of this approach. Previous studies have demonstrated that PD-L1 expression on host cells and myeloid cells plays an important role in PD-L1 blocked-mediated tumor regression. Thus, further research on programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) and programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) is required. Countries including the United States, France, Britain and China have developed PD-1/PD-L1 blockers, including nivolumab, pembrolizumab, cemiplimab, atezolizumab, avelumab, durvalumab, toripalimab, sintilimab and camrelizumab. Notably, all of these blockers have therapeutic effect and influencing factors in HCC. Factors that influence the clinical outcome of PD-1 have also been discovered, such as inflammatory genes, specific receptors and signaling pathways. The discovery of these factors will help to identify novel methods, such as combination treatment, to decrease the influence of other factors on the efficacy of PD-1/PD-L1. Sorafenib and lenvatinib have been approved for first-line treatment for patients with advanced HCC. When first-line treatment frequently fails, pembrolizumab and ipilimumab plus nivolumab are used following sorafenib (but not lenvatinib) treatment in advanced HCC. Thus, tumor immunotherapy using PD-1/PD-L1 blockers exhibits promising outcomes for the treatment of HCC, and more novel PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors are being developed to fight against this disease. The present review discusses the clinical results and influencing factors of PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors in HCC to provide insight into the development and optimization of PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors in the treatment of HCC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]